Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna ( , ) was a meeting of ambassadors of European states chaired by statesman , and held in from November 1814 to June 1815, though the delegates had arrived and were already negotiating by late September 1814. The objective of the Congress was to provide a long-term peace plan for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the and the . The goal was not simply to restore old boundaries but to resize the main powers so they could balance each other and remain at peace. The leaders were with little use for or , both of which threatened to upset the in Europe. France lost all its recent conquests while , and made major territorial gains. Prussia added smaller German states in the west, and 60% of the ; Austria gained and much of northern Italy. Russia gained . The new had been created just months before, and included formerly Austrian territory that in 1830 became . The immediate background was defeat and , which brought an end to 23 years of nearly continuous war. Negotiations continued despite the outbreak of fighting triggered by dramatic return from exile and resumption of power in France during the of March to July 1815. The Congress's "final act" was signed nine days before his final defeat at on 18 June 1815. The Congress has often been criticized for causing the subsequent suppression of the emerging national and popular movements, and it has been seen as a reactionary movement for the benefit of traditional monarchs. However, others praise it for having created relatively long-term stability and peaceful conditions in most of Europe. In a technical sense, the "Congress of Vienna" was not properly a congress: it never met in , and most of the discussions occurred in informal, face-to-face sessions among the of Austria, Britain, France, Russia, and sometimes Prussia, with limited or no participation by other delegates. On the other hand, the congress was the first occasion in history where, on a continental scale, national representatives came together to formulate treaties instead of relying mostly on messages among the several capitals. The Congress of Vienna settlement, despite later changes, formed until the outbreak of the in 1914. Preliminaries The in 1814 had reaffirmed decisions that had been made already and that would be ratified by the more important Congress of Vienna of 1814-15. They included the establishment of a confederated Germany, the division of Italy into independent states, the restoration of the Bourbon kings of Spain, and the enlargement of the Netherlands to include what in 1830 became modern Belgium. The Treaty of Chaumont became the cornerstone of the European Alliance that formed the balance of power for decades. Other partial settlements had already occurred at the between France and the , and the that covered issues raised regarding . The Treaty of Paris had determined that a "general congress" should be held in and that invitations would be issued to "all the Powers engaged on either side in the present war". The opening was scheduled for July 1814. Participants 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. Nikolaus von Wacken (Recorder) 18. (Congress Secretary) 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. }} The Congress functioned through formal meetings such as working groups and official diplomatic functions; however, a large portion of the Congress was conducted informally at salons, banquets, and balls. Four Great Powers and Bourbon France The Four Great Powers had previously formed the core of the . On the verge of Napoleon's defeat they had outlined their common position in the (March 1814), and negotiated the with the during : * was represented by , the Foreign Minister, and by his deputy, . As the Congress's sessions were in Vienna, Emperor was kept closely informed. * Britain was represented first by its , ; then by the , after Castlereagh's return to England in February 1815. In the last weeks it was headed by the , after Wellington left to face Napoleon during the . * Tsar controlled the Russian delegation which was formally led by the foreign minister, Count . The tsar had two main goals, to gain control of Poland and to promote the peaceful coexistence of European nations. He succeeded in forming the (1815), based on monarchism and anti-secularism, and formed to combat any threat of revolution or republicanism. * Prussia was represented by Prince , the Chancellor, and the diplomat and scholar . King was also in Vienna, playing his role behind the scenes. * , the "fifth" power, was represented by its foreign minister, , as well as the Minister the Duke of Dalberg. Talleyrand had already negotiated the for ; the king, however, distrusted him and was also secretly negotiating with Metternich, by mail. Other signatories of the Treaty of Paris, 1814 These parties had not been part of the , but had joined the : * Spain – Marquis * Portugal – Plenipotentiaries: ; ; . * – Count Others * – Count , foreign minister. King was also present in Vienna. * The Netherlands – , the British Ambassador at the Dutch court, and Baron * – Every had its own delegation. from played a prominent role. * - Marquis Filippo Antonio Asinari di San Marzano. * The – Cardinal * – Marquise , Senator of the Republic * On German issues, ** – ** – ** , then in a personal union with the British crown – . (King had refused to recognize the dissolution of the in 1806 and maintained a separate diplomatic staff as to conduct the affairs of the family estate, the , until the results of the Congress were concluded establishing the .) ** – Virtually every state in Europe had a delegation in Vienna – more than 200 states and princely houses were represented at the Congress. In addition, there were representatives of cities, corporations, religious organizations (for instance, abbeys) and special interest groups – e.g., a delegation representing German publishers, demanding a copyright law and freedom of the press. The Congress was noted for its lavish entertainment: according to a famous joke it did not move, but danced. Talleyrand's role proved an able negotiator for the defeated French.}} Initially, the representatives of the four victorious powers hoped to exclude the French from serious participation in the negotiations, but Talleyrand skillfully managed to insert himself into "her inner councils" in the first weeks of negotiations. He allied himself to a Committee of Eight lesser powers (including Spain, Sweden, and Portugal) to control the negotiations. Once Talleyrand was able to use this committee to make himself a part of the inner negotiations, he then left it, once again abandoning his allies. The major Allies' indecision on how to conduct their affairs without provoking a united protest from the lesser powers led to the calling of a preliminary conference on protocol, to which Talleyrand and the , Spain's representative, were invited on 30 September 1814. Congress Secretary reported, "The intervention of Talleyrand and Labrador has hopelessly upset all our plans. Talleyrand protested against the procedure we have adopted and soundly berated us for two hours. It was a scene I shall never forget." The embarrassed representatives of the Allies replied that the document concerning the protocol they had arranged actually meant nothing. "If it means so little, why did you sign it?" snapped Labrador. Talleyrand's policy, directed as much by national as personal ambitions, demanded the close but by no means amicable relationship he had with Labrador, whom Talleyrand regarded with disdain. Labrador later remarked of Talleyrand: "that cripple, unfortunately, is going to Vienna." Talleyrand skirted additional articles suggested by Labrador: he had no intention of handing over the 12,000 afrancesados – Spanish fugitives, sympathetic to France, who had sworn fealty to , nor the bulk of the documents, paintings, pieces of fine art, and books that had been looted from the archives, palaces, churches and cathedrals of Spain. Polish-Saxon crisis The most dangerous topic at the Congress was the so-called Polish-Saxon Crisis. Russia wanted most of Poland, and Prussia wanted all of Saxony, whose king had allied with Napoleon. The tsar would become king of Poland. Austria was fearful this would make Russia much too powerful, a view which was supported by Britain. The result was deadlock, for which Talleyrand proposed a solution: Admit France to the inner circle, and France would support Austria and Britain. The three nations signed a secret treaty on 3 January 1815, agreeing to go to war against Russia and Prussia, if necessary, to prevent the Russo-Prussian plan from coming to fruition. When the Tsar heard of the secret treaty he agreed to a compromise that satisfied all parties on 24 October 1815. Russia received most of the Napoleonic as a "Kingdom of Poland" – called , with the tsar as king ruling it independently of Russia. Russia, however, did not receive the ( ), which was given to Prussia as the , nor , which became a . Furthermore, the tsar was unable to unite the new domain with the parts of Poland that had been incorporated into Russia in the 1790s. Prussia received 60 percent of Saxony-later known as the , with the remainder returned to King as his . Final Act in pink}} The Final Act, embodying all the separate treaties, was signed on 9 June 1815 (a few days before the ). Its provisions included: * Russia was given most of the Duchy of Warsaw (Poland) and was allowed to keep (which it had annexed from Sweden in 1809 and held until 1917). * Prussia was given three fifths of , parts of the Duchy of Warsaw (the ), , and the / . * A of 39 states was created from the previous 300 of the Holy Roman Empire, under the presidency of the Austrian Emperor. Only portions of the territory of Austria and Prussia were included in the Confederation (roughly the same portions that had been within the Holy Roman Empire). * The Netherlands and the (approx. modern-day Belgium) were united in a monarchy, the , with the providing the king (the ). * To compensate for the Orange-Nassau's loss of the Nassau lands to Prussia, the and the were to form a under the House of Orange-Nassau, with Luxembourg (but not the Netherlands) inside the . * , given to Denmark a year earlier in return for , was ceded by Denmark to Prussia. received back from Sweden in return for to the Swedish king. * The neutrality of . * gave up the to Denmark, but was enlarged by the addition of former territories of the and by the formerly Prussian , and made a kingdom. * Most of the territorial gains of , , , , and under the of 1801–1806 were recognized. Bavaria also gained control of the and parts of the Napoleonic and . Hesse-Darmstadt, in exchange for giving up the Duchy of Westphalia to Prussia, received with its capital at . * Austria regained control of the and ; of the former ; of district (from Russia); received in Italy and in . Former Austrian territory in Southwest Germany remained under the control of Württemberg and Baden, and the were also not recovered. * Habsburg princes were returned to control of the and the . * The were under the rule of the pope and restored to their former extent, with the exception of and the , which remained part of France. * Britain was confirmed in control of the in Southern Africa; ; ; and various other colonies in Africa and Asia. Other colonies, most notably the and , were restored to their previous owners. * The King of was restored in , Nice, and , and was given control of (putting an end to the brief proclamation of a restored ). * The were given to , Napoleon's wife. * The was created for the , which would have reversionary rights to Parma after the death of . * The Bourbon , King of Sicily was restored to control of the after , the king installed by Bonaparte, supported Napoleon in the and started the by attacking Austria. * The was condemned. * Freedom of navigation was guaranteed for many rivers, notably and the Danube. The Final Act was signed by representatives of Austria, France, , Prussia, Russia, , and Britain. Spain did not sign the treaty but ratified it in 1817. Other changes considered himself a guarantor of European security.}} The Congress's principal results, apart from its confirmation of France's loss of the territories annexed between 1795–1810, which had already been settled by the , were the enlargement of Russia, (which gained most of the ) and Prussia, which acquired the district of Poznań, Swedish Pomerania, Westphalia and the northern Rhineland. The consolidation of Germany from the nearly 300 states of the (dissolved in 1806) into a much less complex system of thirty-nine states (4 of which were free cities) was confirmed. These states formed a loose under the leadership of Austria and . Representatives at the Congress agreed to numerous other territorial changes. By the , Norway had been ceded by the king of to the king of . This sparked the nationalist movement which led to the establishment of the on and the subsequent personal with . Austria gained in Northern Italy, while much of the rest of North-Central Italy went to Habsburg dynasties (the , the , and the ). The were restored to the Pope. The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia was restored to its mainland possessions, and also gained control of the Republic of . In Southern Italy, Napoleon's brother-in-law, , was originally allowed to retain his , but his support of Napoleon in the led to the restoration of the Bourbon to the throne. A large was formed for the , including both the old and the formerly Austrian-ruled territories in the Southern Netherlands. Other, less important, territorial adjustments included significant territorial gains for the German Kingdoms of (which gained from Prussia and various other territories in Northwest Germany) and (which gained the and territories in ). The was transferred from Hanover to Denmark, and Prussia annexed . was enlarged, and Swiss neutrality was established. Swiss mercenaries had played a significant role in European wars for a couple of hundred years: the Congress intended to put a stop to these activities permanently. During the wars, had lost its town of to Spain and moved to have it restored. Portugal is historically Britain's oldest ally, and with British support succeeded in having the re-incorporation of Olivenza decreed in of the General Treaty of the Final Act, which stated that "The Powers, recognizing the justice of the claims of ... Portugal and the Brazils, upon the town of Olivenza, and the other territories ceded to Spain by the of 1801". Portugal ratified the Final Act in 1815 but Spain would not sign, and this became the most important hold-out against the Congress of Vienna. Deciding in the end that it was better to become part of Europe than to stand alone, Spain finally accepted the Treaty on 7 May 1817; however, Olivenza and its surroundings were never returned to Portuguese control and this issue remains unresolved. }} The United Kingdom received parts of the at the expense of the Netherlands and Spain and kept the former Dutch colonies of and the as well as and . Under the Treaty of Paris (1814) France ceeded to Britain the islands of " and , and of the and its dependencies, especially and Les ", and under the (signed in Paris on 5 November 1815), as one of the treaties signed during the , Britain obtained a protectorate over the . Later criticism The Congress of Vienna has frequently been criticized by 19th century and more recent historians for ignoring national and popular sentiments, and for imposing a stifling on the Continent. It was an integral part in what became known as the , in which the liberties and civil rights associated with the and s were de-emphasized, so that a fair balance of power, peace, and stability might be achieved. In the 20th century, however, many historians came to admire the statesmen at the Congress, whose work prevented another widespread European war for nearly 100 years (1815–1914). Among these is , who in 1954 wrote his , , on it. Historian Mark Jarrett argues that the Congress of Vienna and the Congress System marked "the true beginning of our modern era". He says the Congress System was deliberate conflict management, and was the first genuine attempt to create an international order based upon consensus rather than conflict. "Europe was ready," Jarrett states, "to accept an unprecedented degree of international cooperation in response to the French Revolution." Historian Paul Schroeder argues that the old formulae for " " were in fact highly destabilizing and predatory. He says the Congress of Vienna avoided them and instead set up rules that produced a stable and benign equilibrium. The Congress of Vienna was the first of a series of international meetings that came to be known as the , which was an attempt to forge a peaceful in Europe. It served as a model for later organizations such as the in 1919 and the in 1945. Before the opening of the Paris peace conference of 1918, the British Foreign Office commissioned a history of the Congress of Vienna to serve as an example to its own delegates of how to achieve an equally successful peace. Besides, the main decisions of the Congress were made by the Four Great Powers and not all the countries of Europe could extend their rights at the Congress. The Italian peninsula became a mere "geographical expression" as divided into seven parts: , , , , , , and the under the control of different powers. remained partitioned between Russia, Prussia and Austria, with the largest part, the newly created , remaining under Russian control. The arrangements made by the Four Great Powers sought to ensure future disputes would be settled in a manner that would avoid the terrible wars of the previous 20 years. Although the Congress of Vienna preserved the balance of power in Europe, it could not check the spread of revolutionary movements across the continent . References Category:Modern history